Pickup trucks get Lone Star treatment at state fair

By Neal Morton

Updated 8:05 am, Friday, September 27, 2013

The redesigned 2015 Ford F-Series Super Duty King Ranch is making its debut at the State Fair of Texas auto show.

Photo: Neal Morton

The redesigned 2015 Ford F-Series Super Duty King Ranch is making...

Toyota will sell the Texas Edition of the Tacoma pickup exclusively at dealerships in the state.
Photo: Neal Morton

Toyota will sell the Texas Edition of the Tacoma pickup exclusively...

The Elantra GT is among the vehicles Hyundai has on display at the State Fair of Texas auto show. From left, Ford's Atlas made an appearance, along with a monster truck-inspired version of a Toyota pickup, and the high-end 1794 Edition of the all-new 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup.
Photo: Neal Morton

The Elantra GT is among the vehicles Hyundai has on display at the State Fair of Texas auto show. From left, Ford's Atlas made an appearance, along with a monster truck-inspired version of a Toyota pickup, and the high-end 1794 Edition of the all-new 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup.
Photo: Neal Morton

The Elantra GT is among the vehicles Hyundai has on display at the...

The 2014 Corvette Stingray stands out among hundreds of other vehicles at the State Fair of Texas auto show in Dallas this year.
Photo: Neal Morton

The 2014 Corvette Stingray stands out among hundreds of other...

The 2014 Corvette Stingray stands out among hundreds of other cars at the State Fair of Texas auto show in Dallas this year.
Photo: Neal Morton

The 2014 Corvette Stingray stands out among hundreds of other cars...

The Elantra GT is among the vehicles Hyundai has on display at the State Fair of Texas auto show. From left, Ford's Atlas made an appearance, along with a monster truck-inspired version of a Toyota pickup, and the high-end 1794 Edition of the all-new 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup.
Photo: Neal Morton

DALLAS - Looking to appeal to businesses that need to replace aging fleets, automakers on Thursday showcased the reliability of their pickups at the State Fair of Texas. But they couldn't resist flexing their muscles in the increasingly competitive luxury truck market.

At a media event ahead of the fair's auto show, Ford debuted its restyled 2015 F-Series Super Duty King Ranch truck, which it said combines Texas heritage with modern luxury. Ford first partnered with the South Texas ranch in 2001 and has since dominated the high-end truck segment.

However, Ram and Toyota hope to steal some of that market share with their Laramie Longhorn and 1794 Edition trucks, respectively.

Both feature premium interiors with up-to-date technology and give a subtle nod to the Texas consumer. (The 1794 is named after the former ranch on which Toyota's assembly plant in San Antonio sits, and the Longhorn could gain popularity among University of Texas at Austin fans.)

General Motors also recently rolled out its Chevrolet Silverado High Country pickup, another expensive, Western-themed truck that could chip away at the King Ranch's dominance.

"The Chevy folks admitted what they were doing," said Karl Brauer, a senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book. "They were basically like, 'Yeah, we saw the number of these being sold by Ford and Ram with their high-end (trucks), and we realized we were missing out on a good chunk of not only sales but profit.'

"They created the High Country for exactly that reason, and so did Toyota with the 1794 Edition."

Toyota said the 1794 Edition already makes up 25 percent of all Tundra sales in Texas since its arrival in dealerships less than a month ago.

Still, the Japanese automaker plans to court even more Texans with the Texas Editions of the San Antonio-made Tacoma and Tundra pickups. Both will be sold exclusively in the Lone Star State, said Jack Hollis, vice president of marketing for Toyota.

Similarly, Dodge chose the state fair as its venue to announce a so-called Heat version of its Durango SUV, which will be available only in Texas starting this fall.

Like the truck makers, Hyundai hopes to capture some of the resurging luxury market and will use this year's auto show to highlight its refreshed Equus sedan, which starts at about $60,000.

Lori Sholz, a public relations manager for Hyundai, said Dallas and Houston rank among the top 10 markets for the Equus.

"There's a lot of money there," she said. "People are smart and know what they want to buy. They're savvy with how they spend their money."

Dallas and Houston also received a lot of attention from Nissan, the maker of the all-electric Leaf.

Between Oct. 1 and March 31, the company will offer every customer who buys a Leaf in either Texas city one year of free access to NRG eVgo's electric-vehicle charging stations. NRG eVgo currently has 23 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth region and 17 stations in the greater Houston area, according to a news release.

Erik Gottfried, Nissan's director of electric vehicle sales and marketing, said that in Dallas-Fort Worth, sales are up over 500 per- cent in 2013 compared with the same period last year.

"We're seeing that Texans are clearly enjoying the benefits" of electric vehicles, he added.

"This is something that's catching on here and catching on in a hurry."